About Disability Horizons

Disability Horizons magazine is an online disability lifestyle publication that aims to give disabled people a voice.

Founded by two disabled guys in 2011, Disability Horizons publishes articles on a wide variety of topics, all to support the aim of a world where disabled people live exactly as they choose to. You can sign up for our newsletter to get all our articles directly to your inbox, along with our Ultimate Disability Survival guide.

All articles are sourced directly from our community of readers, making Disability Horizons a lifestyle publication about disabled people, for disabled people. Articles span topics from technology, relationships, sports, employment and travel.

To help our community connect with each other, share, learn, support and be supported further, we’ve also created the DHorizons Tribe Facebook group. We continue to partner with experts, celebrities, and influencers to bring our readers video interviews, personal insights, top tips and more.

We’ve also launched our I for Inclusion campaign, the further ensure that disabled people’s voices are being heard. It aims to make sure our society is fully inclusive of all disabled people. You can pledge your support to help make a difference.

The Team

Disability Horizons was founded by Srin Madipalli and Martyn Sibley who both have a physical impairment called Spinal Muscular Atrophy.

MARTYN SIBLEYCEO & Co-founder

Martyn Sibley lives in Cambridgeshire, but is often blogging somewhere around the world on his accessible travels and adventures. He is a published author of ‘Everything is Possible‘, a professional speaker, social media consultant, and previously worked as a product development executive at the disability charity Scope.

Martyn graduated from Coventry University with a masters degree in Marketing and a bachelors degree in economics. Since university, Martyn has become an influential voice in the world of disability, media and travel. Mostly through his pioneering use of social media and e-campaigning. In 2016, he was named the 3rd most influential disabled person. His aims have consistently been to inspire, inform and change the world for disabled people.

Srin Madipalli lives in London and worked as a lawyer at a leading international commercial law firm in the City of London. He graduated from King’s College, University of London with a first class degree in Biochemistry and received the university’s nomination for best undergraduate in the UK’s Science, Engineering and Technology student awards. Following that, Srin re-qualified as a lawyer and advised some of the world’s leading corporations and financial institutions. After four years in practice, Srin left the law to commence an MBA at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School with a focus on entrepreneurship.

When he is not being a corporate lawyer or an aspiring entrepreneur, Srin loves to travel and experience adventures of a more extreme kind in their wheelchair accessible form! Some past adventures have included scuba diving, flying a plane, wheelchair trekking through mountains and a camping safari in Africa. In the second half of 2010, he took some time out from work to go travelling around the world for four months and consequently takes a keen personal interest in trying to encourage disabled people to travel more.

ELIZABETH RANSOME-CROKEREditor and Head of Content Marketing Strategy

Elizabeth Ransome-Croker joined Disability Horizons in its infancy back in 2011, keen to help develop and grow the publication to reach more disabled people. She has since headed up the content team as Editor, commissioning and editing Disability Horizons’ community articles.

Liz has been a journalist for more than 10 years, working on print and online publications. She has worked across a diverse range of topics with a strong focus on content marketing and strategy development.

Liz has always been passionate about promoting a positive view of disability, thanks to the inspiring attitude of her brother, who had Cerebral Palsy. She is always looking to share extraordinary stories, push boundaries and most of all, reach, entertain, and inspire more disabled people to live the lives they want.

Filipe Roldao graduated from University of Minho (Portugal) in 2002 with a degree in International Relations. Since then he has extended his knowledge to other domains… having ended up working as Personal Care Assistant here in the UK.

In a nutshell, Filipe describes himself as a traveler and a wannabe DJ, who likes to walk and cycle…

One of his dreams is to do a trip around the world, preferably on a motorbike. Crossing borders shouldn’t be a problem because, as he puts it: “I look like Prince William (aka Duke of Cambridge)… when we are both wearing a helmet!”

He enjoys meeting people from all kinds of horizons. Adventure comes naturally along with traveling and is always welcome. Most of the times he prefers to explore places “by himself”… to follow his own path…

Zubee Kibria is living in London with her family. She’s had a varied career working and volunteering for a number of organisations in the public, private and voluntary sector. She started working in the hospitality industry and then moved onto a number of different charities and then her local council. She studied Leisure and Tourism at Ealing, Hammersmith and West College for a year, and in 2011 she successfully completed an NVQ, Apprenticeship qualification in Business and Administration at Level 2.

The highlight of her career was when she got the opportunity to organise the first ever inclusive fashion show using disabled and non-disabled designers and models. She did this show to raise money for the charity she was working for at the time and to raise awareness of disability in the fashion industry. It was covered in British Vogue Magazine and received local, national and international press coverage, which she was not expecting!

In May 2012, she joined Disability Horizons as a volunteer, as she wanted to do something to keep herself busy while looking for work. She has had the opportunity to build on her network of contacts with a number of amazing and talented disabled people, who she is still in touch with today, thanks to Disability Horizons.

KAREN MOGENDORFFDeputy Content Editor

Karen Mogendorff joined Disability Horizons in autumn 2015 to show disabled and non-disabled people alike that disabled people can lead full, happy lives and contribute significantly to society, without denying or hiding the difficult aspects of living with disabilities.

Karen is a Dutch-born anthropologist and communication scientist who counters negative and disabling images and stereotypes of disability through her research and writing and by helping others to narrate their lived experiences. Stories are a great way to create images disabled people can recognise themselves in, and, occasionally, laugh about. Her lived experience with spastic diplegia is an important source of inspiration for her research and writing.

Karen loves writing, traveling, learning new things and having fun with friends.

Shannon Kelly is from Chicago, Illinois and is a student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is a Journalism major with a Global Studies minor.

Shannon, who uses a manual wheelchair after having a tumour in her spine at the age of two, is passionate about international travel and has been on four study abroad trips to South Africa, Sweden, Australia, Hong Kong & Taiwan. She writes about her travels and hopes to make study abroad more inclusive for people with disabilities.

RAYA ALJADIRFeature writer and Editor of Disability Horizons Arabic

Raya AlJadir is an English degree graduate from Queen Mary, University of London, where she also read Renaissance Studies for Masters Degree and is currently researching for a PhD thesis entitled ‘ The role of servants in political matters in Early Modern Drama’.

She is also a freelance translator, writer and proof-reader and has taught English to refugees and migrants as a volunteer at The Migrants Resource Centre. She has worked at both Amnesty International and Equality and Human Rights Commission. Raya runs the Arabic version of Disability Horizons, as well as writing for UK Disability Horizons and her own site, Careless.

Raya has Ulrich CMD (congenital Muscular Dystrophy) and her main interest is promoting disability awareness.

Nichola Daunton is a freelance writer, part-time playwright and super-fast walker. She can mostly be found writing at the kitchen table, or hanging out in the local library with its dodgy wi-fi and large collection of sleepy old men.

When she’s not writing, she’s either exploring London on foot (aka, getting lost in places she should know better) or hanging out with her two fluffy and semi-wild rabbits, Butch and Claude.

Nichola blogs about her London wanderings and occasionally writes theatre reviews for a variety of websites. She also has a pretty serious clementine addiction, so make sure to hide your fruit bowl.

Firstly, we will support you in how to attract a wider range of candidates and tap into the pool of ‘purple talent’ and help to take anticipatory action to remove common barriers in your recruitment process experienced by disabled candidates.